Nearly 900 donkeys in Tanzania are safer and healthier following a grant from Lady Freethinker to International Aid for the Protection & Welfare of Animals (IAPWA).
Donkeys are known to be gentle, intelligent, protective of their companions, and inquisitive. Like dogs, donkeys often have soulful eyes and enjoy chin scratches.
While donkeys are beloved by their guardians in rural communities across Tanzania they also face unique threats, including attacks from poachers looking to skin the gentle animals for ejiao – a type of gelatin made from donkey skin and used in traditional Chinese medicine.
To keep donkeys safe from poachers, we sponsored the construction of shelters in over 40 villages across the East African country. The enclosures will make it difficult for poachers to steal these trusting animals and will further keep donkeys safer from attacks by lions or other wild animals. We also helped sponsor 250 food packages as well as plentiful water – as droughts in Tanzania have become common and can be devastating.
Donkeys Receiving Food & Water (Courtesy of IAPWA)
Veterinary services aren’t always accessible in rural villages like the ones aided by these grant funds – so we sponsored the vaccines and medical care these donkeys need to be healthy. Now, if one of these beloved community donkeys is injured or otherwise needs urgent veterinary attention, they will receive it.
Baby Donkey Benjamin Receiving Care (Courtesy of IAPWA)
Sensitive and gentle donkeys are just as deserving of shelter, veterinary care, food, water, and love as dogs and cats are. And hundreds of donkeys in Tanzania are now receiving the care they need sponsored by LFT — all thanks to the generosity of our supporters who enable us to fund amazing programs like this one.
